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Giving Tuesday is arguably the biggest international social media fundraising event for nonprofits and charities.

Occurring after the Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday shopping blitzes each year, Giving Tuesday was created as a day to give back.

Here are just a few statistics from Giving Tuesday 2017:

$300 million raised online

2.5 million gifts

Participants in over 150 countries around the world

Over 1 million social mentions and 21.7 billion media impressions

So how can you get your supporters and online community to actually raise money for you this Giving Tuesday?

In this post, I'll outline six steps that you can take to ensure that you're making the most of the popularity and potential of Giving Tuesday, combined with the power of Facebook Fundraisers.

1. Start with low-hanging fruit

If this is your first rodeo, aim to enlist around ten people to start a Facebook Fundraiser for you on Giving Tuesday.

Start by approaching those that know and love you first. Board members, development committee members, staff, volunteers, people who've raised money for you before - all of these people have raised their hands and said that they care about the cause and the organization in the past. Offer them a new opportunity to make a difference and raise more money, simply from their phones and desktops.

Let them know that you'll walk them through setup, implementation, and follow up, and that you'll be cheering them on every step of the way.

Remember, just saying “It’s #GivingTuesday, give us money” is not a compelling enough reason for people to make a donation. Give people a reason to participate, anemotional angle, a succinct story. Let them know where the money's going, why you're running a fundraising campaign this year, and what you hope to accomplish.

2. Educate them

Don't assume that just because people have Facebook accounts that they know and understand what it takes to coordinate a Fundraiser for your cause.

"The benefits of creating a Facebook fundraiser are numerous. You can encourage donations to AAUW in your honor while increasing visibility for AAUW’s work and mission by inviting friends to support your fundraiser, learn more about your cause, and donate. Facebook also makes raising funds easy, exciting, and secure: Fundraiser creators can set donation goals and track their progress toward those goals, and donors can enter their payment information securely and easily through Facebook. With Facebook fundraisers, supporting women and girls only takes a few clicks!"

You should also assure potential fundraisers that you'll give them all of the information they need to get started - visuals, graphics, data, and more. Be sure to house all of this content on your website

4. Share a 'How To' video

You could also go one step further and create a short, simple video thanking people for their interest in starting a fundraiser, and walking them through the steps required to start one for you.

Videos see more reach and engagement in the Facebook News Feed, increasing the likelihood that your supporters will see it. Embed the video on your website, and send out a dedicated email featuring the video.

Also, make it fun and entertaining. The key is enthusiasm - if you aren't excited about Facebook Fundraising, why would your supporters be?

5. Organize a Facebook Live-Stream

Going live on Facebook has many benefits - here are just a couple:

Facebook Live videos are watched 3x longer than videos that aren't live

Users comment on Facebook Live videos at 10x the rate of regular videos.

Plan and carry out a special Facebook live-stream to announce your fundraising campaign, and to encourage people to start Fundraisers for you.

The purpose of the Facebook Live:

To announce the campaign

To explain that this is a new opportunity to support your cause

To walk them through the process

To thank them for supporting you

There are many creative ways that you can leverage Facebook Live to promote your Giving Tuesday campaign and to thank and acknowledge people who have set up Facebook Fundraisers.

These are just some of the ways you can use Facebook to boost your Giving Tuesday 2018 campaign. Start planning now to ensure maximum impact.